Lost isn’t forever; it’s just a detour on the way to found.
– Jen Stephens, writer
Before proceeding, I should acknowledge that some of these players have already had some version of a ‘breakout’, e.g., Joseph Williams at Tulsa, Coleman at Auburn, and to some degree, Chris Marshall at Boise. In each case, though, I don’t think 2025 went the way their drafters had hoped; hence, here we are.
Cam Coleman, Texas
I may be higher on Coleman than the general CFF cognoscenti this offseason. The fact that Texas was as aggressive as they were signals a want and perhaps a need that they identified at WR. They also let several players walk out the door, again signaling dissatisfaction with the 2025 room. Ryan Wingo returns, but I don’t think he’s a better player than Coleman, who was not far off from Jeremiah Smith from a ratings perspective coming out of high school.
One of those two players chose wisely in selecting an offensive system to feature his skill set; the other, Coleman, has been grossly misused in his first two years of CFB. That’s probably going to change this fall—lest we forget that the last Heisman-winning WR played under Steve Sarkisian as OC at Alabama. I don’t know if Coleman can monopolize the offensive share as much as Devonta Smith did, but I do view him as the favorite to be WR1 at Texas.
Nyck Harbour, USCjr.
For the majority of Harbor’s career, I have been much lower on him than the consensus. Now, the paradigm shifts. I was impressed by what we saw from him at the end of his sophomore campaign—our man caught a TD pass in five straight appearances to end the year.
It can be a precarious line of thinking to assume he’ll pick up where he left off in 2026, but one thing to note is that he did receive what I believe to be an upgrade at OC: Kendal Briles, who was the last OC and associate HC at TCU from 2023-2025. Everyone knows what EMac did last season, but there are also players like Jack Bech and Savion Williams in his inventory of former WR1s that are notable for CFF purposes.
Joseph Williams, Colorado
Year one didn’t exactly go as planned for the freshman transfer from Tulsa. Well, sometimes these things take time. With new play caller Brennan Marion at OC, there should be a player who emerges as a valuable CFF asset at WR, and traditionally, that player under Marion is a boundary guy. There are many other irons in the fire, though, namely SJSU slot receiver transfer Danny Scudero.
Yannick Smith, SMU
I like the idea of Smith, but in theory, we don’t even know if he’ll start yet. SMU is replacing Jordan Hudson, who finally had a good season in 2025 before immediately leaving. Why can’t good things last longer?
Anyways, from a stylistic POV, Smith is similar to Hudson. I wrote about him a long time ago when he was at ECU, and I’m still interested. This was a propitious landing spot. With a returning veteran QB and a staff with a decent history of wizardry at WR, an encouraging profile has emerged here via Smith.
Chris Marshall, Arkansas
Yes, Marshall is still around. The former five-star from Texas A&M’s legendary 2022 class has bounced around throughout his career, making stops in College Station and, most recently, Boise, and now finds himself back in the SEC. He’s worth consideration, given the talent and the open opportunity at Arkansas.
It’s a different regime at staff now, so there’s not much use in rehashing the recent track record of Arkansas WR production. That being said, the head coach coming over from Memphis, Ryan Silverfield, has had a WR reach over 800 receiving yards in all but one season dating back to 2021. Of course, it’s not a given that Marshall will even be a starter at this point, but he’s a good bet to lead the team in receiving, in my opinion.
For those interested, you can find more of VP’s work here.
